Power transmitting mechanism



NOV. 5, c AU N POWER TRANSMITTING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 29,. 1950 2Sheets-Sheet l r WWW NVENTOR. Carl Jauem A mi. New

Nov. 5, 1935. c. F. RAUEN POWER TRANSMITTING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 29,1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. r azv&

- systems.

Pateuted Nov. 5, 19 35 mon PATENT OFFICE POWER rmvsmr'r nvd Carl F.Ballen, Detroit, Michr i Application September 29, 1980, Serial No. sma

This invention relates to power transmisson In transmissions of thecharacter now universally in use, a very material drawback resides in fthe fact that when the speed of the vehicle propelling shaft tends toexceed that of the' engine shaft, the engine acts as a breke or "drag".This is" particularly noticeable when the car is moving at high speed,although this action of the engine makes itself felt even to some extentat medium speeds. This action is due to the fact that when thetransmisson gears are set for &direct drive, the connection between thedriving shaft and the driven shaft is such that they must move together,regardless of direction or speed.

When driving on the open road, at relatively high speed, it is oftendesirable to release the accelerator and at the same time continuemoving at substantially the same speed as that acquired immediatelybefore release of the accelerator, that is, to coast.

Attempts have heretofore been made to accompush the above end by theemployment of oneway or overrunning clutches in the transmissonstructures, such clutch means involving rollers or ratchets which oftenrequire a complete reorganization of conventional transmisson in whichthey are intended to be employed.

It is accordingly one of the principal objects of invention to provide anew and improved transmisson system employing a one-way driveconstruction which may be embodied in the usual transmisson systemwithout reorga-nization thereof and which involves a minimum of parts.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision, inconnection with a transmisson, of means accomplishing the above ends bythe use of a novel clutch arrangement.

'A' still further object of the invention lies in 'the provision of animproved clutch for oneway drives, said clutch embodying as one of itsessential parts a member capable of contraction and expansion.

-. My invention contemplates as a further object :the employment of anovel friction clutch arrafigement involving a minimum of moving partswhereby the vehicle will be allowed to coast when de'sired and the driveshaft and driven shaft may be recoupled for direct drive so that theengine 'shaft may act as a brake with respect to the propeller shaftwhen the speed of the latter tends to exceed that of the former.

Another object of no little importance in this connection isaccomplished by the provision of "a novel one-way clutch which not onlyprovides thereby eliminating an operation heretofore neci 'ssary intransmisson systems.

In carrying out my invention, I employ a oneway or overrunning clutch inconjunction with the driving and propeller shafts of a transmission andconnected" against axial or 'longitudinal movement relative to thedriving shaft; One of the clutch parts is rotatable with respect to thedriving shaft .and a resilient clutch member in the form of a coiledspring is conflned longitudlnally between the other clutch parts andsaid shaft and may be connected against rotationrelative to either ofsaid otlr clutch parts or said shaft. The spring is normally infrictional engagement with the part with which it is not interlocked andit is thereby evident that said spring acts to set up a clutcharrangement between said parts, for' a one-way drive. The shaft and theother clutch part 'are provided with teeth, and the slidable toothedmember on the transmisson main shaft is movable for engagement firstwith the teeth of the other clutch part for establishing a onewaydrivebetween said shafts, and then with the teeth of the driving shaft,to establish a direct drive between said shafts and "short circuit" theone way drive, the latter operation be- 4 ing in response to an extendedor overshift of the gear shift lever.

' An outstanding advantage of my invention resides in the fact that itmay beapplied to theconventional type of transmission with a very smallchange in its structure, and the parts are so extremely simple that theymay be manufactured at a very low cost and may be readily assembled anddisassembled. 'In view of the fact that the clutch parts come into playfor the most part at higher speeds, the load bome by 'them is quitesmall so that the parts may be pawls and rollers, so that the life of myclutch I mounted on the counter shaft.

is substantially greater than that of other types of clutches. 4

other and further important objects and advantages of this inv tion willbe apparent from the disclosure in the 'speciflcation and theaccomdrawings.

This invention (in a preferred form) is illustrated in the drawings andhereinafter more fully described.

On the drawings:

Figure is a :fragmentary sectionl view through a'transnision`constructed in accordance with my invention, showing one form of myoverrunning clutch or free wheeling mechanism, certain parts appear-ingin elevation.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing more clearlythe particular clutch details illustrated in Figur-e 1.

Figura 3 is a sectional view taken approximately in the plane designatedby the line III- III m.me 2

. l 'igure 4 shows an improvement applied to the clutch construction ofFigures 1, 2 and 3 to insure proper operation at all speeds.

Figure sis a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially in the planeindicated by the line V-V in Figure 4.

-'igure 6 shows a modified form of the structure of Figure 5.

Figure 'I depicts, in fragmentary sectionai view, a modified clutchconstruction. A

Referring now more particularly to the drawings. wherein the samecharacters refer to identical parts.- the drive or clutch shaft l of thetransmission, generally indicated at A, is connected to the enginethrough the usual clutching means (not shown) and is provided with teethll, adapted to mesh with the gear lla of the counter shaft geararrangement llb, rotatably The gear O is slidably splined on the drivenor propeller shaft ll and when slid to the right, as viewed in mure 1,it .will mesh with the second speed gear of the counter shaft cluster,thereby giving sec-4 end speed as is conventional in present automobiletransmissions. The gear O is also provided with suitable clutch teeth M,the function of which will appear as the description proceeds..

The shaft l is provided with a drum I, hav- -ing a diameter preferablylarger than the normal internal diameter of the spring clutch member 3.The drum 2 has a reduced diameter at 4 on which is concentrically androtatably' mounted the tubular drum 5, the outside diameter of which 'is'the same as that of the drum 2. Formed integral with or otherwisesecurely fastened to the drum 5 is an enlarged portion 0, in which iscut clutch teeth 1, adapted to mesh with the gear teeth i of the splinedsliding gear i. The drum i is held in place by the snap ring Ia. Thespring clutch member 3 is separated from the gear teeth o by the washerll, which prevents the free end of the spring 3 from catching in theteeth II. The other end of the spring I is preferably oii'set, as at z,and inserted in the hole II. By holding the end of the spring clutchmember :in some such manner as shown at ll, fewer coils are necessary onthe drum I to produce a looking effect. It is, however, possible tofesten 'the end of the spring to the drum I without any coils on thesaid drum.

The radial pressure of the spring I on the drums 2 and! due to the' factthat the outside' diameter of 'the drums is greater than the normal*inside diameter of the spring. produces a !rici &090.040

grip the drum, that is when the part 0 'turn faster than the drum I. thespring tends to unwind and does not grip the drum 2, so thepartiandthespringicanturninthesame direction as the shaft I and at a faster speedwithout causing said shaft to rotate.

The geariisshiftedtotheleftsothatthe teeth I mesh with the teeth 1 forcoasting or one way drive, and is moved stin farther to the left so thatthe teeth N mesh with the teeth II for positive or two-way drive. Someof the teeth m ll are foreshortened as at II to facilitate engagement.This same is true of the teeth Il as shown at I'I.

The free end of the spring clutch member showninl'iguresl and2willtendtounwindzs or expand due to centrifugal force, and will thereby tendto cause the clutch to slip if the speed is high enough, unlesssuflicient radiai tension or additional coils are provided. In order toemploy this type of clutch with a minimum so number of coils, and toobviate undesired expansion of the spring, such as may be due tocentrifugal force, I have provided a centrifugal device, one form ofwhich is shown in l 'igures 4 and 5 and another in Figure 6.

In' the form of centrifugal device shown in Figures 4 and 5, the plateI! is provided with weighted parts II, pivoted at Il. These weightedparts are acted on by centrifugal force which causes their ends 22 topress the free end and 40 last coil of the spring 23 against the drum24, thereby neutralizing the centrifugal force of the free end of thespring which causes it to unwind, and even increasing the radialpressure of the free end of the spring on the drum. By means of these 46centrixugally responsive parts the resilient radial pressure of thespring on the drum could be obviated, that is, the outside diameter ofthe drum could be made slightly smaller than the inside diameter of thespring. With such an arrangeso ment, the spring, in response to theaction of the centrifugally acting parts, would provide the necessarygrip whenever it is brought into play, in view of the fact that theparts will be rmning at sumciently high speed to make this possible.

A modification of the structure shown in Figure 4 is illustrated inFigure 6, wherein a part designated !I is provided with a conicalportion 20, adapted to engage the end of the spring clutch member 21 asshown. This conical portion !I is .0 adapted to press the end of thespring against the drum 28, when the balls u, responding to centrifugalforce, tend to climb up the inclined portion !I of the part 25, therebyforcing it to the right. It will be appreciated that while the wall ofthe member :i in Flgure 6 is radial and the corresponding wall of themember 30 is inclined, these parts could be varied in form, i. e., saidwall of the member 30 could very well be made radial and the wall of themember :i inclined, or both could be inclined, and the same resultaccomplished. Moreover, the balls could be replaced by non-sphericalmembers of any suitable description, such as rollersif so desired, andthe 1 slightly smaller than the normal outside diameter oi' the spring31. A hole 33 is provided for the oil'set end of the spring 31, toprevent rotation of the drum 34 with respect to the spring 31. Anotherdrum 40 having an internal diameter at 4| approximately the same as thediameter at 33 is centered on the part 34 at 42,.and held in place bythe snap ring 43, and is provided with clutch teeth 44 adapted to meshwith the gear teeth 45 of the sliding gear 43 upon movement of the gear48 to the left, to provide a one-way drive. The gear 46 is provided withclutch teeth 41, adapted to mesh with the clutch teeth upon furthermovement of the gear 46 to the left in response to an extended orovershift of the gear shift lever, thereby providing a direct twowaydrive.

When the shaft 32 is driven so as to unwind the spring 36, said spring,due to the radial pressure caused by the fact that the normal outsidediameter thereof is greater than the internaldiameter of the drums 34and 40, grips tightly on the inside of the drums and causes them to turnwith the shaft 32. Should, however, the drum 40 be caused to turn fasterthan the drum 34, in the same direction. an occurrence which is manifestwhen the vehicle is traveling at a relatively high speed, the springwill tend to wind up and thereby reduce its diameter, and the shaft 32will then not turn with the shaft 48, thereby giving a one-way driveconnection from the drive gear 32 to the shaft 43, when the teeth of thegear 46 are in mesh with the teeth 44, and the teeth 41 have not beenmeshed with the teeth 35. For the two-way direct drive, the teeth 41 aremeshed with the teeth 35, as previously explained.

With this location of the spring, it is evident that the action ofcentrifugal force will increase the pressure of the spring on the drums,rather than decrease it as in the form shown in Figure 2.

It will be appreciat'ed that in both of the forms shown in Figures 2 and7, while the drum portions engageable by the spring are substantiallycylindrical, their shape may be otherwise, as, for example, conical ifso desire'd, and the spring correspondingly formed. Moreover theengagement of the spring for frictional purposes may be limited to onlyone drum, in view of the fact that frictional engagement between thespring and the member to which it is non-rotatably secured is A notabsolutely necessary.

It will be noted that in every form of the invention described, theShift lever is adapted to occupy a conventional position correspondingto the position occupied by setting up the direct drive in the usualtype of transnission, the Shifting means being suitably modified inaccordance with the requisites of this invention so that the lever maybe subjected to extended movement or over'shift, whereby toshort-circuit the one-way drive of my invention and set up a two-waydirect drive correspnding to direct drive in other transmission systems.

It will be noted that the clutch elements 5, and

clutched by the sliding gears 3 and", for' oneway or free wheelingdrive, without necessitating the use of the ordinary engine clutch,since the 5 loosely mounted clutch part acquires very little momentum;

I am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details ofconstruction may be varied through a wide range without departing from othe principles of this invention and I therefore do not purpose limitingthe patent granted hereon, otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.driven by friction between the spring and the gear teeth, or by beingfastened 15 to the drive shatt l.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a mechanism of the class described, a drive member having areduced end, a clutch instrumentality end,` means mentality, a drivenmember, a slidable device rela- 30 tively non-rotatably can-led by saiddriven memdrive and driven members.

2. In a mechanism of the class described, a 40 drivemember, a clutchinstrumentality' rotatably other end of said element being non-rotatably50 connected to said instrumentality, a driven member, means forcoupiing said instrumentality and driven member for ro*ation together tothereby establish a one-way drive between said members, and means forshort-circuiting said drive and at the same time establishing a two-waydrive between said members.

' ber, means for coupling said instrumentality and 4 driven member forrotation together to thereby establish a one-way drive between said:members, and means for short-circuiting said drive and at the same timeestablishing a two-way drive between said members, both o! said meansbeing slidable relativeto one of said members.

4. In a mechanism o! the class described, a drive member, a drivenmember. and a flexible element normally in frictional engagement withone of the members, and connected against relative rotatlon with theother member, whereby, when the speed of one o! the members tends toexceed that o! the other, said element will engage the one member moretightly so that a positive drive between said members will beestablished, and when the speed of the other member tends to exceed thatof the one member, the grip o! the element will be released to allowrelative rotation of the members, and centritugal means forcounter-acting the loosening eitect o! centrii'ngal force on saidelement.

5. In a mechanism of the class described, a drive member, a drivenmember, and a flexible element normally in frictional engagement withone of the members, and connected against relative rotatlon with theother member, whereby, when the speed of one of the members tends toexceed that of the other, said element wilt'engage the one member moretightly so that a positive drive between said members will beestablished, and when the speed of the other member tends to exceed thatof the one member, the grip oi the element will be released to allowrelative rotatlon of the members, and means for counter-acting theloosening eflect of centriiugal force on said element, said meansincluding one or more unbalanced dogs loosely mounted adjacent the outerperiphery or said element, the lighter end of each dog being engageablewith said periphery with a pressure commensurate with the speed of saidmember to prevent expansion of said element due to centritugal force. i

6. In a mechanism of the class described, a drive member, a drivenmember, and a flexible element normally in frictional engagement withone of the members, and connected against relative rotatlon with the.other member whereby, when the speed oi' one oi! the members tends toexceed that ot the other, said element will engage the one member moretightly so that a positive drive between said members will beestablished, and when the speed of the other member tends to exceed thatof the one member, the grip of the element will be released to allowrelative rotatlon of the members, and means tor counteracting theloosening eflect of centriiugal force on said element, said meansincluding a cam overlying the tree end of said element, an abutment onsaid member, said abutment and cam having juxtapoeed outwardlyconverging walls and means dispoeed intermediate said walls and movableoutwardly in response to centriiugal force to thereby shiti; said camtoward the !ree end of said element, whereby said cam will press the!ree end o! said element inwardiy.

7.Inamechanisno!theclasdecribed.a

drive member, a driven member, and a flexible element normally in!rictional engagement with i one o! the members. and connected againstrelative rotation. with the other member, whereby,whenthespeedotoneotthemembertendto exceed that of the other, saidelement will engage the one member more tightly so that a positive drivebetween said members will be established, and when the speed oi' theother member tends to exceed that of the one member, the grip of theelement will be released to allow relative rotatlon of the members, andmeans tor counter-acting li the loosening' eflect of centritugal iorceon said element, said means including a cam overlying the !ree end ofsaid element, an abutment on said member, said abutment and cam havingiuxtaposed outwardly converging walls and means disi poeed intermediatesaid walls and movable outwardly in response to centritugal iorce tothereby shiit said cam toward the tree end oi said ele'- ment, wherebysaid cam will press the tree end ot said element inwardly. 2

8. In a mechanism of the class described, a drive member, a drivenmember. and a flexible element normally in !rictional engagement withone oi' the members, and connected against relative rotatlon with theother member, whereby, 8 when the speed of one oi' the members tends toexceed that ot the other, said element will engage the cne member moretightly so that a positive drive between said members will beestablished, and when the speed of the other member tends to I exceedthat of the one member, the grip o! the element will be released toallow relative rotatlon of the members, and centritugally actuated cammeans engageable with the outer periphery oi' said element torpreventing radial expansion o! 4 said element.

9. In a mechanism of the class described, a drive member, a clutchinstrumentality rotatably carried by said member, means preventingrelative longitudinal movement between said member 4 and saidinstrumentality, an element normally in rictional engagement with saidmember and non-rotatably connected to said instrumentality, a, drivenmember, a device non-rotatabiy carried by said driven member andslidable relative a thereto, said device having external and internalteeth, and said instrumentality having internal teeth and said drivemember having external teeth adapted to be clutched progressively withthe external and internal -teeth respectively ot' the slidable device,whereby a one way or a two way drive may be selectively establishedbetween the drive and driven members.

' CARL I". RAUEN.

